Electrical card connector

ABSTRACT

An electrical card connector comprises a shield housing, an insulation body, a plurality of conductive terminals received in the insulation body, and a card ejection mechanism. The shield housing covers the insulation body and the card ejection mechanism. An elastic pressing part extends from the shield housing. The card ejection mechanism comprises a card ejection sliding block, and an arresting part selectively locating the relative sliding position of the card ejection sliding block. The card ejection sliding block has a positioning track defining a heart-shaped cam and including a card ejection track. An elastic pressing part extends from the shield housing, and is slanted towards the card ejection track. The pressing part has a connection portion extending from the shield housing, a slanting portion extending from the connection portion and a pressing portion extending from the slanting portion. The elastic pressing part presses the follower. The electrical card connector has the advantages of a stable card lock and a longer working life.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to an electrical card connector, and moreparticularly to an electrical connector including a card ejectionmechanism.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

As shown in FIGS. 1(a), 1(b) and 1(c), a conventional electrical cardconnector 7 comprises a housing 70, an insulation body 71, a pluralityof conductive terminals 72 received in the insulation body 71, and acard ejection mechanism 73. Referring to these figures, the cardejection mechanism 73 comprises a base 74, a card ejection sliding block75 permitting relative motion between it and the base 74 and contactwith an inserted electrical card C, a spring 76 able to elasticallyforce the card ejection sliding block 75 to return an original position,and an arresting part 77 capable of selectively defining the relativepositions between the card ejection sliding block 75 and the base 74.The card ejection sliding block 75 comprises a pushing portion 750directly moved by the electrical card C and a movable portion 751disposed in the base 74 synchronically moving with the pushing portion750. The arresting part 77 is a C-shaped rod, and has a movable follower770 disposed in the movable portion 751 and a pivotal part 771 pivotingon the base 74. A positioning track 78, a concave portion of the movableportion 751, permits a relative motion between it and the follower 770of the arresting part 77. The positioning track 78 comprises a commontrack 780, a card insertion track 781, a card lock track 782, and a cardejection track 783.

When the electrical card C has not been inserted yet, the follower 770of the arresting part 77 is located at an ejection position 784 on thecommon track 780. Then, the front end of the electrical card C pushesthe pushing portion 750 so that the card ejection sliding block 75accompanying the electrical card C is moved when the electrical card Cis inserted. Accordingly, the follower 770 of the arresting part 77slides from the common track 780 into the card insertion track 781, andthen is guided into the card lock track 782 until the electrical card Cis stopped. At this moment, the follower 770 is located at thepredetermined lock position 785 of the card lock track 782. If a userdoes not force the electrical card C, the tensile force of the spring 76pushes the card ejection sliding block 75 backwards to travel aninterval so that the follower 770 is held at a card lock position 786 byfollowing the guidance of the card lock track 782. The arresting part 77and the spring 76 respectively apply balanced force to the card ejectionsliding block 75 to place the electrical card C in a proper position.When the user wants to eject the electrical card C, he has to push theelectrical card C again so that the follower 770 leaves the card lockposition 786 and enters the card ejection track 783. When the user stopspushing the electrical card C, the tensile force of the spring 76 urgesthe card ejection sliding block 75 to return until the follower 770reaches the ejection position 784 of the common track 780 by movingbackwards along the card ejection track 783.

As the aforesaid paragraphs mentioned, the follower 770 of the arrestingpart 77 is moved by the card ejection sliding block 75 so that it has amotion relative to the positioning track 78. To prevent the follower 770from escaping out of the positioning track 78, an elastic pressing part700 provided on the housing 70 can ensure that it has a proper motion.The elastic pressing part 700 extends from the opening of the housing 70to the top of the arresting part 77 opposite the insertion side 702, andapplies positive resilient force to the arresting part 77. When the userinserts the electrical card C by an overload force or an inadequateaction, the follower 770 of the arresting part 77 is not locked duringthe movement from the entrance of the card insertion track 781 to thecard lock position 786 until it directly enters the card ejection track783. On the other hand, if the electrical card C is repeatedly insertedinto and ejected from the electrical card connector 7, the positioningtrack 78 will be worn accordingly. That is, the card lock position 786gets wider than the size of the follower 770. Consequently, the follower770 will pass the card lock position 786 to arrive on the card ejectiontrack 783 when the follower 770 slides towards the card lock track 782.Unfortunately, the electrical card C cannot be properly held at the cardlock position 786, and a wrong card ejection occurs.

In view of the above, the conventional electrical card connectorurgently needs to be improved to enhance its performance and workinglife.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention provides a reliable electrical card connector forsolving the problem of instability in the card lock that occurs after ithas been used many times. The card lock performance is improved througha simple change.

The present invention provides an electrical card connector comprising ashield housing, an insulation body, a plurality of conductive terminalsreceived in the insulation body, and a card ejection mechanism. Theshield housing covers the insulation body and the card ejectionmechanism. An elastic pressing part extends from the shield housing. Thecard ejection mechanism comprises a card ejection sliding block and anarresting part selectively locating the relative sliding position of thecard ejection sliding block. A positioning track is provided on the cardejection sliding block comprising a card insertion track and a cardejection track. The elastic pressing part includes a pressing surfacefacing towards the card ejection track. The pressing surface presses thearresting part.

In an embodiment, the pressing part has a connection portion, a slantingportion extending from the connection portion and a pressing portionextending from the slanting portion. A pressing surface is provided onthe pressing portion. The slanting portion is bent toward the cardejection track from the connection portion. An opening is provided onthe shield housing. The connection portion of the pressing part extendsfrom a side of the opening. The card ejection sliding block includes asurface having a concave portion on which the positioning track islocated, and the pressing surface of the pressing part is slantedtowards the surface. The arresting part includes a movable followerretained by the positioning track. The pressing surface of the elasticpressing part presses the follower. In another embodiment, the cardejection mechanism further includes a base and at least a return part.The card ejection sliding block can be slidably disposed on the base.The return part returns the card ejection sliding block to a homeposition. The positioning track further includes a common track parallelto the direction of the movement of the electrical card. The cardinsertion track and the card ejection track respectively extend from thecommon track to two opposite sides, and have an ejection position and alock position.

The elastic pressing part of the card ejection mechanism of the presentelectrical card connector extends from the shield housing and is slantedtowards the card ejection track. When the arresting part arrives at thelock position, the elastic pressing part reversely exerts a force on itto prevent the follower of the arresting part from escaping out of thelock position and improperly entering the card ejection track to causethe electrical card to quit the connector. Therefore, the presentelectrical card connector ensures that the card is stably locked. Theelectrical card connector has the advantages of a simple fabrication, astable card lock and a longer working life.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The organization and manner of the structure and operation of theinvention, together with further objects and advantages thereof, maybest be understood by reference to the following description taken inconnection with the accompanying drawings wherein like referencenumerals identify like elements in which:

FIG. 1(a) is a stereogram of the conventional electrical card connector;

FIG. 1(b) is a plan view of the electrical connector of FIG. 1 without ahousing into which an electrical card is inserted;

FIG. 1(c) is a side view of the electrical connector of FIG. 1 without ahousing;

FIG. 2 is a stereogram of an electrical card connector in accordancewith the present invention;

FIG. 3 is a plan view of the electrical card connector in FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is an exploded view of the electrical card connector in FIG. 2;

FIG. 5 is a plan view of the electrical card connector without a shieldhousing in FIG. 3;

FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view of the electrical card connector inFIG. 3 along the line of AA;

FIG. 7 is a stereogram of the card ejection sliding block of the cardejection mechanism of an electrical card connector in accordance withthe present invention;

FIG. 8 is a schematic diagram showing relative positions of the elasticpressing part and the card ejection sliding block; and

FIG. 9 is a schematic diagram showing the positioning track of the cardejection sliding block.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE DISCLOSED EMBODIMENT

While this invention may be susceptible to embodiment in differentforms, there is shown in the drawings and will be described herein indetail, a specific embodiment with the understanding that the presentdisclosure is to be considered an exemplification of the principles ofthe invention, and is not intended to limit the invention to that asillustrated.

As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, an electrical card connector 1 according toan embodiment of the present invention includes a shielding housing 10,at least an insulation body 11, a plurality of conductive terminals 12received and retained in the insulation body 10 and a card ejectionmechanism 13. The shielding housing 10 covers the insulation body 11 andthe card ejection mechanism 13. A receptacle room 14 is enclosed by theshielding housing 10 and the insulation body 11 in order to permit theinsertion of an electrical card (not shown in these figures) from theinsertion side 15.

As shown in FIG. 4, the shielding housing 10 comprises arectangular-shaped upper cover 100 and sidewalls 101 extendingdownwardly from the two longitudinal sides of the upper cover 100.

Further referring to FIGS. 4, 5 and 6, the card ejection mechanism 13comprises a base 2, a card ejection sliding block 3 having a relativesliding motion between it and the base 2 resulting from contact with aninserted electrical card and a return part 4 capable of returning thecard ejection sliding block 3 to a home position, and an arresting part5 capable of selectively defining the relative positions between thecard ejection sliding block 3 and the base 2.

The base 2 extends along the insertion direction of the electrical cardconnecter, and a sliding room 20 is provided on a concave of the base 2to permit the card ejection sliding block 3 to slide therein. A rod 21protrudes towards the sliding room 20 from a rear wall (the insertionside 15 is a front side and a side opposite the insertion side 15 is arear side; hereinafter named the same) of the sliding room 20. A snaphole 22 is downwardly formed from the upper surface of the front side ofthe base 2.

A receptacle groove 30 is concaved on the rear of the card ejectionsliding block 3. A positioning track 31 is formed by concaving the frontof the card ejection sliding block 3 from the upper surface 300 to thelower surface. As shown in FIG. 7, the positioning track 31 comprises acommon track 310, a card insertion track 311, and a card ejection track313. The common track 310 extends towards a side opposite the insertionside, and its longitudinal direction is parallel to the insertiondirection of the electrical card. The card insertion track 311 and thecard ejection track 313 respectively extend from the common track 310 totwo opposite sides so that a heart-shaped cam 32 is defined by thepositioning track 31.

The return part 4 is a spring received between the receptacle groove 30of the card ejection sliding block 3 and the rear wall of the slidingroom 20, and it is an end that holds the rod 21 to be positioned.

The arresting part 5 is C-shaped, and has a pivotal part 50 pivoted inthe snap hole 22 of the base 2 and a follower 51 movably disposed in thepositioning track 31.

Further referring to FIGS. 2, 3 and 6, to prevent the follower 51 of thearresting part 5 from escaping out of the positioning track 31, theelectrical card connector 1 of this embodiment has an opening 102provided on the upper cover 100 and corresponding to the card ejectionmechanism 13, and an elastic pressing part extends from the rear of theopening 102 towards the front of the opening 102 closed to the cardejection sliding block 3. Further referring to FIG. 8, the elasticpressing part 16 includes a connection portion 160, a slanting portion161 and a pressing portion 162. The slanting portion 161 is bent towardthe card ejection mechanism 13 from the connection portion 160, and itsextension surface is tilted towards a side adjacent to the card ejectiontrack 313. The pressing portion 162 extends from the edge of theslanting portion 161, and has a pressing surface 163 pressing thefollower 51 of the arresting part 5. The pressing surface 163 is slantedtowards the upper surface 300 of the card ejection sliding block 3, andis adjacent to the card ejection track 313. Furthermore, the pressingsurface 163 bias presses the follower 51 of the arresting part 5.

As shown in FIG. 9, the follower 51 of the arresting part 5 is locatedat an ejection position 314 of the common track 310, when the electricalcard is not inserted. During the insertion of the electrical card, thecard ejection sliding block 3 starts to compress the spring 4 becausethe electrical card drives the card ejection sliding block 3 to slide.The follower 51 of the arresting part 5 slides from the lead of thecommon track 310 into the card insertion track 311 under the press ofthe pressing surface 163 until the electrical card C cannot move.Meanwhile, the follower 51 of the arresting part 5 is guided by the cardinsertion track 311 and enters the card lock track 316. The arrestingpart 5 and the spring 4 respectively apply balanced force to the cardejection sliding block 3 to place the electrical card C inserted intothe electrical card in a proper position. During this operation, whenthe follower 51 of the arresting part 5 enters the lock position 316 outfrom the card insertion track 311, the elastic pressing part 16 appliesforce on the follower 5 towards the right side, which is the directionof the card insertion track 311 from the card ejection track 313.Consequently, the follower 51 cannot pass the card lock position 316,and directly enters the card ejection track 313. This is, when thefollower 51 enters the card insertion track 311 from the card insertiontrack 311, it is prevented from passing the lock position 316 andimproperly entering the card ejection track 313 to cause the electricalcard to quit the connector. Therefore, the present electrical cardconnector 1 ensures that the card is stably locked.

While a preferred embodiment of the invention is shown and described, itis envisioned that those skilled in the art may devise variousmodifications without departing from the spirit and scope of theforegoing description and the appended claims.

1. An electrical card connector, comprising a shield housing, aninsulation body, a plurality of conductive terminals received in theinsulation body, and a card ejection mechanism, the shield housingcovering the insulation body and the card ejection mechanism, the cardejection mechanism comprising a card ejection sliding block and anarresting part selectively locating a relative sliding position of thecard ejection sliding block, the card ejection sliding block comprisinga card insertion track and a card ejection track, an elastic pressingpart extending from the shield housing and including a pressing surfacefacing towards the card ejection track and pressing the arresting part.2. The electrical card connector of claim 1, wherein the pressing parthas a connection portion, a slanting portion extending from theconnection portion and a pressing portion extending from the slantingportion, and the pressing surface is provided on the pressing portion.3. The electrical card connector of claim 2, wherein the slantingportion is bent toward the card ejection track from the connectionportion.
 4. The electrical card connector of claim 2, wherein the shieldhousing includes an opening, and the connection portion of the pressingpart extends from a side of the opening.
 5. The electrical cardconnector of claim 1, wherein the card ejection sliding block includes asurface having a concave portion on which the positioning track islocated, and the pressing surface of the pressing part is slantedtowards the surface.
 6. The electrical card connector of claim 1,wherein the arresting part includes a movable follower retained by thepositioning track and the pressing surface of the elastic pressing partpresses the follower.
 7. The electrical card connector of claim 1,wherein the card ejection mechanism further includes a base and at leasta return part, the card ejection sliding block can be slidably disposedon the base, and the return part returns the card ejection sliding blockto a home position.
 8. The electrical card connector of claim 1, whereinthe positioning track further includes a common track parallel to thedirection of the movement of the electrical card, and the card insertiontrack and the card ejection track respectively extends from the commontrack to two opposite sides and have an ejection position and a lockposition.